48 Sydnor et al.: Economic Impact of Emerald Ash Borer Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 2007. 33(1):48–54. The Potential Economic Impacts of Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis) on Ohio, U.S., Communities T. Davis Sydnor, Matthew Bumgardner, and Andrew Todd Abstract. A survey of 200 communities with individuals such as urban foresters who have assigned responsibilities for their urban tree resource was conducted to provide baseline data on ash density within Ohio communities. Sixty-seven com- munities responded, including the five largest cities in Ohio. Data represent 25% of the population of Ohio and 33% of communities surveyed. Losses in landscape value for ash trees within community boundaries were estimated to be between $0.8 (median-based) and $3.4 billion (mean-based) assuming the complete loss of ash resulting from the emerald ash borer (EAB), a recently introduced exotic pest of native ash species in the United States. Tree removal costs would be somewhat smaller and range between $0.7 and $2.9 billion based on reported medians and means, respectively. Tree replacement costs in Ohio communities, including streets, parks, and private properties, would range between $0.3 and $1.3 billion. In aggregate, the total losses for Ohio communities, including ash landscape losses, tree removal and replacements, are estimated to range between $1.8 and $7.6 billion for a single insect pest in a single state. The potential total costs in Ohio are estimated to be between $157,000 and $665,000 per 1000 residents. Communities can use these figures to begin developing contingency plans. Key Words. Agrilus planipennis; economic impact; Emerald Ash Borer; Fraxinus; green ash; white ash. Emerald ash borer (EAB) is a recently introduced exotic pest of native ash trees in the United States. The native range of this pest is in Eastern Asia (Akiyama and Ohmomo 2000). The insect was first described in the Detroit, Michigan, U.S., area in 2002 (USDA-APHIS 2003). Currently, this pest is found in Michigan, northwestern Ohio, and northeastern In- diana (Herms et al. 2004). This pest is in the order Bupres- tidae. Insects in this order are known as buprestids or metallic wood-boring beetles. The bronze birch borer (Agrilis anxius) (a native buprestid) has been much more damaging to exotic birch than to native birch in Ohio’s Shade Tree Evaluation Project (Herms 2002). Thus, the EAB (an exotic buprestid) is thought to have the potential to destroy all native ashes because they lack an evolutionary history with EAB leading us to calculate esti- mates for the potential complete loss of ash in Ohio. Indeed, all of the native ashes (Fraxinus americana, F. nigra, F penn- sylvanica, and F quadrangulata) evaluated to date have been shown to be sensitive (Herms et al. 2005). Both urban and natural plantings of ashes appear to be sensitive to EAB and have been killed in southeastern Michigan where this pest was first discovered (USDA-APHIS 2003). In recent years, white and green ashes have been widely planted in Ohio communities (D’Amato et al. 2002). Surveys were taken in 1995 and 2000 and the later survey predicted ©2007 International Society of Arboriculture that 8.4% of all trees, including small ornamental trees ex- pected to be planted in 2005, were to be ashes. Urban for- esters also predicted an increasing demand for ashes between 2000 and 2005. Informal discussions with some of Ohio’s nurseries suggested that as many as 70% of the canopy (large shade) trees planted and/or sold by Ohio’s nurseries during the 2000 to 2003 periods were ashes. Of course, the percent- age of ashes planted has changed because this survey was taken more than 2 years before EAB was identified in the Detroit area. Ash sales in Ohio have declined dramatically since 2003 (W. Stalter, pers. comm.). Should EAB destroy native ashes in Ohio as it has done in southeastern Michigan (Landers 2005), it will be critical for communities to develop plans to deal with EAB. Any plan must have some notion of the scope of the problem so that contingency plans can be formulated and presented for imple- mentation. The USDA Forest Service has maintained data on the composition of lands and forests in rural areas but has not collected data on urban areas (USDA-FS 2002). Thus, al- though the density of the ash component of rural areas is known, information was needed to identify the scope of po- tential problems as measured by the density of ash in urban areas of Ohio. This study was conducted to quantify the po- tential economic impact to Ohio if EAB were to destroy all native street, park, and private ash trees in Ohio communities.
January 2007
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